Investigating the Bible: Biblical teamwork

By DAVID CARLSON PASTOR

Archie Griffin is a former professional football running back and the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy (1974-1975). At 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 189 pounds, he wasn’t exceptionally big. He did so well as a runner because of the closeness he developed with his front line, who powered out gaps for great gains. He’s humble and reluctantly talks about his rare honor. When asked, he says, “I felt that my winning the Heisman reflected the success of our team as a whole.” The team in the New Testament is the church. “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:2, English Standard Version used throughout). When the church functions as God designed, it demonstrates healthy attributes.

First, the church will be unified and flexible. In the Corinthian church were Jews, Greeks, Romans, the rich and poor, and even slaves. People who had despised and avoided one another now met and worked together. They had a new and unique union. “For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body.” (1 Corinthians 12:15). Paul named also the eyes and feet which have vital functions in a healthy body. There was no room for pride. “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’” (1 Corinthians 12:21).

Paul targeted powerful church members when he wrote that the private, unseen parts of the body are the most important. “On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require.” (1 Corinthians 12: 22-24).

Second, the church body will be strong and loving. Paul listed different leadership roles, all empowered to “…to equip the saints for the work of the ministry for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children.” (Ephesians 4:11-14) The end goal: “… that it build itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:16).

Common goals bring people together. Researchers in 1954 selected 22 11-year-old Caucasian boys, well-adjusted, with no history of problems. They randomly divided them into two equal groups and took them separately to Robbers Cave State Park in Oklahoma for a three-week summer camp. Their camps were at the opposite ends of the 200-acre state park; at first they didn’t know about the other group. Each selected names, the Eagles and the Rattlers, made a flag, and stenciled T-shirts. At the end of the first week, the Rattlers and Eagles were told about each other. Sometimes they could hear the other group. They started calling boys in the other camp bums and cowards. Then they wanted to compete with them. They played tug-of-war, touch football and baseball. Only winners got rewards. Tensions rose. One night, the Rattlers raided the Eagles, vandalizing and stealing. Adults intervened to prevent the Eagles retaliating with rocks. Then, the third week, researchers gave the boys tasks that required collaboration, like pushing a stalled truck up a hill. After several shared projects, the two groups decided to cook meals together. By the time the camp ended, they asked to ride the same bus home, and the Rattlers bought milkshakes for themselves and the Eagles.

David Carlson Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) lives in Oregon and is a graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th.).